Hello.....

I'm looking for help with my persistent acne problem. I did see a homeopath about five months ago......she gave me sepia 30, and advised me to take two pills a day for three days, then every other day until i finished the vial.....which was a couple of months. I did see a pretty striking improvement for a couple of weeks, and then a relapse. My skin has since followed a pattern of clearing for a week or so, then breaking out again. From every materia medica i've looked at, it does appear that sepia fits me very well.......but I'm wondering if the dosage was correct. So here are my symptoms.
I am female. My skin first started breaking out at age twenty.....I am now twenty five. Sugar causes me to break out within hours.....so I don't eat it at all. Alcohol also gives me problems. My periods are regular, but I am always very depressed and sad the day before.....then the first day, I have a lot of dull aching pain, which alternates between my lower back and my abdomen......the pain comes in waves. I hate fatty foods. I am very fair skinned, with freckles. I am tall and thin, and very flexible. I need to exercise every day, otherwise I am restless and irritable. I am a dancer and I sweat easily and profusely from exercise. I got my first period at age 12, and my periods have been painful on the first day for as long as I can remember. I tried birth control pills to help with my skin a couple of years ago.......but they actually made it much worse......even the very low dose one that is supposed to help. I was on it for about four months, then stopped. My skin is better since I stopped eating sugar, because the acne is closer to the surface.....but I still get problems. Sometimes a whole big section of my face will be clear, but I'll have lots of little spots on my chin, for example, or my right cheek. Other times, my whole face will be clear for a week, then break out within a day. I notice that I sometimes have a lot of dandruff flakes on my scalp, and other times none at all. I am a high achiever and have very high standards for myself in all areas.....which can cause a lot of stress sometimes. I like to sleep with the window open, and I get hot while sleeping otherwise.....though I don't sweat at night. I have a very healthy vegetarian diet, and I don't consume any coffee, alcohol, or medications. It seems to me that my skin is worse around the time of my period, though it's certainly not limited to that time. That's all I can think of......I hope you will be able to help. Thank you.

a couple of things I forgot:

I am pretty shy in social situations and dread meeting new people.

I like salty foods.

I have a constant feeling of stiffness and tightness in my lower back..

and......I've had pain and soreness in my left heel for about five and a half months.....worst when I first wake in the morning, or after I've been sitting for a long time. Also, I sometimes get a lot of blistering and itching on my feet. In addition to salty foods, I like foods with a strong briny taste, like olives and feta cheese.

In my opinion and in the opinion of all,(I think ) homeopaths on this board you have been given far too much of the remedy. At that potency I personally would have prescribed 3 pillules only over 24 hours and that would be it!!

Maybe GM will know what to do now!!

[This message has been edited by Ricky (edited 10 September 2000).]

I have just had a thought. Did the homeopath give you a remedy when you were with her and then give you the vial to take away with you? The answer to this question will make a lot of difference in deciding what has happened here and where to go from here.

Have you been back to the homeopath since the first consultation and discussed what has happened with her?


[This message has been edited by Ricky (edited 10 September 2000).]

Thanks for your reply......what happened was: she gave me the vial with the instructions to take two pills that night before going to sleep, to do the same thing the following two nights, then to take them every other day. I did that and stopped after 8-10 days, because she hadn't specified when to stop. Around that time I had infected blisters between my toes, for which I had to take a lot of antibiotics. (I had them before taking the sepia) When I went back to the homeopath after a month, she felt that the relapse was due to the remedy's being antidoted by the antibiotics......she instructed me to start taking the pills again every other day until I finished the vial. After that my skin was sometimes clear, sometimes broken out....it has continued in that pattern, though I stopped taking the pills a couple of months ago. On the second visit, she also gave me a vial with 8-10 pilules of sepia 1000, I think it was, and said I could take one every few months, if I felt that I needed it.....I haven't used those. I should also mention that for the past two months, I have been getting acupuncture treatments, which seem to help a little with the painfulness of my periods, but don't seem to impact my skin.

sound like the remedie is correct BUT TOOOO MANY DOSES TAKEN
WAY TOOOO MANY
and it is not a good idea to jump potency
example; you said first sepia30, (a million doses) then sepia 1000 correct?
this is normally not advisable to do.
it really aggravates your body.
do not take antibiotics. the sepia is at work and will be for a long time clearing out all the dirbiss from your body.
to take antibiotics is to break down your immune system.

What happened was that the Sepia was working. Those blisters were something that you had had before and when a crrect remedy is given it brings back past symptoms. However you shouldn't have treated thenm with the antibiotics.
As Virginia quite rightly says you've been given far too many doses. How long exactly is it since you last took the Sepia 30? You say a couple of months. Have you taken any antibiotics since then?
It may be worth taking 3 doses of Sepia 30 NOT the 1M (1000) again, one night, one morning and one the next night after you have finished with the acupuncture as with a bit of luck that will have anti -doted the overdose you have taken.
GM recommends no vinegar or acids when taking Sepia although I have never given those instructions to my patients and the Sepia has still worked!

Hi....and thanks again for your replies. A few questions before I try sepia again. First......when you say 30, do you mean 30C or 30X? And by three doses, I assume you mean two pills night, morning, then night? Also, how soon after stopping acupuncture could I take it? Right away? I haven't taken any sepia for eight weeks now.....and I stopped the antibiotics in April. When you say no acids or vinegar while taking sepia, do you mean during that 24 hour period, or indefinitely? I assume that includes all kinds of tomatoes and citrus fruits....and those are pretty tough to avoid. Also, if I should have some kind of athletic injury, like a sprain or a pull, and need to take a mild antiinflammatory for it, would that antidote the sepia? (I don't normally take them, but in case of emergency...) I know this is a lot of questions, but I do want to make sure that i do this correctly this time. Thanks once more for your help.

By 30 I do mean 30C. Is that what you took last time or did you take 30x? 2 pills is not necessary. One pill from a reliable source is all you need. And yes that is one dose night morning night. I presume you do know not to eat or drink anything for about 20 mins before and after the remedy. Also no coffee, even decaff, and no minty things. Get some toothpaste (fennel) for taking with homeoapthic remedies. Chew fruit gum not minty!

I would say a week after acupuncture unless someone else knows better.

The acids thing is from GM and he reckons indefinitely while the remedy is working. As I said I haven't found it a problem.

I have no objection to Ibuprofen being taken if needed in an emergency but what is wrong with homeopathic acute remedies? If the Sepia is already entrenched in you and the acute remedy is being used up by the injury that is fine. A sprain or pull (muscle) to me means Arnica and rest it. If cartilage or ligament Ruta is best.

[This message has been edited by Ricky (edited 11 September 2000).]